"You're hiding sothing."
In the mirror of my opened wardrobe, I saw a guy with weary, sunken eyes staring back at , ruffling his damp hair with a towel, as he said with an even wearier groan, "No."
Reflecting back over his shoulder was the corner-end of a bed fra barely even visible in the glass, almost like a smidgen, and yet sohow that little petite figure sitting there had more of a visible presence than the guy in the forefront.
It's probably her eyes doing the heavy lifting there. Dad's color, but Mom's stare. In a way, intimidating.
The figure stood up, her chest swelling with a breath, and the bright blue in her scowl gazing back at the guy so defiantly. She marched, arms crossed, making her way forward, until she was to the side, her determined expression in the corner of my eyes.
"I'm coming with you," She said.
I threw the towel sowhere I didn't care to see, and ended up giving my desk chair a fluffy coat to wear, before promptly rummaging through my wardrobe for a jacket to go with my shirt.
"If you're annoyed, there's one way to solve that," Behind , her voice continued to resound, unable to be suppressed in spite of burying my head in a mountain of fabric like a fashion emu. "All you have to do is say yes."
Fortunately, I fished out sothing presentable at a record pace, and after a swipe here and there of my hair, I was about ready to start making my way out my bedroom.
But then for so reason, my journey was abruptly halted and blocked by the tenacious bratty troll of the bedroom door, a toll had to be paid first it seed.
"You're not leaving until I get my answer," spoke the troll in a grouchy voice.
I took a step back, seriously contemplating if I should jump out the window instead. Ultimately I decided against it, broke my silence instead, saying to her, "Or else what, Sammy?"
"Or else," She pursed her lips. "Or else… I'll… I'll be upset with you."
Dear Lord, could there ever be a more terrifying threat than that? Sammy upset? Why I never…
"Please move, Sammy," I said, trying to wave her out of the way. "You're gonna make miss the bus, and calling a car's too expensive."
"Good!" She retorted, digging her feet onto the carpet even more. "There, there's your 'or else', you'll miss the bus! How do you like that?"
Wow, now I'm pretty much quaking in my boots. How can one be so wicked and evil?
"First the necromancer-phoenix thing the other day, and now this, you can't tell nothing's going on," Sammy said. "In case you forgot, I ca here to keep an eye on you…"
Yeah, you and everyone else, apparently.
"And I can't exactly do what I ca here to do if you're keeping on house arrest all the ti!"
"Who says I am?" I scoffed. "You're free to do as you want, free to go wherever you wish - "
"Except wherever it is that you're going, apparently…"
"Exactly."
She sounded out a loud raspy groan in frustration. No leverage, no threats, she was starting to slowly grasp that there was nothing she could do to start swaying to her wants.
I didn't like that resentful look in her eyes, but the day I ever get her involved in any one of life's bizarre hijinks is the day I officially retire the title of best big brother. Powerful as she may be, untouchable as she may seem, whatever anyone may say. to , she'll always be my little sister.
"So you are hiding sothing, fine…" She flashed another look, one that searched deep into my eyes. "But if you're keeping out of it because of so stupid impulsive need to protect - "
"I'm not," I said in an instant. "Look, I'll only be gone at most one-two hours. That's not long, is it?"
Seriously, I do not get this girl. Didn't she claim herself to want nothing to do with this certain magical aspect of our lives, wasn't she adamant in that? So why the hell was she trying her best, doing whatever it takes to get involved in it anyway?
"Call Mom," I told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You haven't talked to her this morning yet, have you?"
At that, she quickly averted her gaze, at one instance, shifting her feet about in discomfort. From that alone, I could tell Sammy was still a ways away from warming up to her.
"I called Dad already," She muttered. "He knows I'm fine."
"But not Mom," I repeated, gently pushing her out of the way. "You know how she is, right? Better get to it before she teleports here herself out of worry or sothing."
She rolled her eyes at that. "Whatever…"
Before I could leave for the hall, before I could even finish waving farewell, Sammy spoke out again, and for the second ti in a row, she had freezing in place.
"I had another dream again."
I turned to her once more, and the apprehension brimming wide in her eyes wasn't one anyone could fake.
"Last night, when you were gone," She continued. "It's not getting any better."
"What did you see?" I asked her, trying to keep my tone light as can be, trying to cancel out the somberness I heard in hers. " again, I'm assuming?"
"," She corrected, a lump in her throat swallowing dry. "I'm… I think I was angry."
"Angry?"
"Bloody."
"Bloody…"
"It's not very clear what was happening, but," Sammy breathed out, nervously tugging at her braid. "I just knew that it had sothing to do with you."
"That so?" I said, also exhaling, funneling out any signs of tenseness. "How'd you figure?"
"Because I kept muttering your na," She answered. "Only your na. I think you did sothing to … sothing…"
"Sothing…?" I urged her on.
"Sothing that made want to kill you."
A long mont's silence told that she was finished, and for an even longer mont, we just stood there across from each other still lingering in that sa silence.
No wonder she was more stubborn than usual about tagging along with to this mysterious eting of mine. These deathly premonitions are seriously getting out of hand now, I swear.
"I think I might stay for a while more - a few days longer, a week maybe?" She suddenly spoke out, raising a timid gaze up at . "Is that alright with you?"
I began to move, began to speak, shutting the door, answering her with a single sentence. "It's just a dream, Sammy."
A dream. That's all it was. Nothing more, nothing less. Mom already said so, and I decided that's what I was going to keep thinking of them as. It's just paranoia, her paranoia - her mind playing tricks because she's been thinking about it too much.
She'll see, she'll co around to that conclusion. It's only a matter of ti. Dreams are just dreams, and reality is just reality… there's no use blending them together as one.
People talk about a dream co true, but this was one that will stay forever locked away within the confines of the imagination. Because no matter what happens, no matter what cos to be said and done - there was no way I could ever be the person her dreams claim I could be.
It's just not possible… it's not a possibility.
I won't make it a possibility.
Never.
"Keep an eye on her, won't you?"
Ash waited for at the bottom of the steps, and after heeding my request, accepted without hesitation with a bow.
"Of course, Master," She said, her erald eyes sparkling bright with resolve. "You needn't even say."
After the incident yesterday, Ash had opted out of her usual afternoon visit to Sera's today. Made sense, couldn't help but agree too, but a part of felt remorseful, a little bad… after last night, I was thinking maybe Sera needed the companionship.
Speaking of, I haven't told Ash what happened the night before. I figured that was a can of worms I could open later after my visit to Irene. I wonder what she'd say… would she take Sera's side? Of course she'd take Sera's side, she was her friend.
Makes wonder, what side was I on even?
I don't know.
"Alright, I'll be going now," I said, stroking her silver hair goodbye. "Be back in a jiffy."
Ash gave a smile, waved off… and before I knew it, I was twisting the doorknob open to the bright, blinding outdoors. For a few seconds, I waited for my eyes to adjust, squinting - and then I waited for a bit more, then a little bit more after that.
I think there was sothing wrong with my eyes, or maybe it was an illusion, two illusions, side by side, a trick of the light… then suddenly that trick of the light spoke out, and I knew then that no, I didn't need glass after all.
I was seeing just right, alright.
"You look… confused…" ca her slow voice, so gentle and full of concern. "Are you… confused…?"
"Well, of course he is, dear sister," spoke the other illusion to the side, condescendingly, and highly infuriatingly. "He believes us Matriarchs as weakling, incapable of withstanding a little glare in the sky."
"Or maybe he's just wondering to himself what the hell are you two standing outside here for," I said to them, shifting eyes from left to right.
Beside one another, they really were like inverse-mirror images of each other. With the slight few things setting them apart being their hair, their eyes… and most contrastingly, their starkly different deanors.
One soft-spoken, the other as haughty as can be. One had her eyes timidly staring up, the other could do nothing else but to look down at . One with her hands folded, wrapped, woven into one another, while the other made do with folded arms instead.
"I… We… My sister and I… we…" Adalia started, only to be swiftly interrupted by a harsher, more firr voice.
"We're following." Alia said.
I blinked. "What?"
"We're following," Shesaid again, eyes flashing danger, as if daring to make her repeat herself thrice. "And no, you do not have a say in this decision, so please just swallow your grievances and hold your tongue, unless of course, you would rather do without it, in which case… by all ans, then."
"Sister…" Adalia muttered, her soft voice doing it's best to sound even the slightest bit stern. "No cutting tongues… don't hurt him…"
Alia simply just spun her head away in response. "An empty threat. I ant nothing by it, he knows that."
Do I though? Fucking hell, the way she looked at , you'd think she was serious.
"But why follow though?" I asked, still wrapping my head around the sight of the both of them here now. "And why the both of you at the sa ti?"
"Spare your inquiries for another ti, perhaps," Alia responded. "After all, we have a bus to catch, do we not?"
I am seriously at a loss here. Welp, good thing Sammy wasn't here to see this, otherwise she might accuse of double standards or sothing, that or she might find another 'or else' to threaten with.
A Matriarch's wrath is good leverage, after all.
Hope I brought enough coins for three…
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